March 23rd, 2012 by Oman Views

Israel using Gaza as trial run for Iran strike: Hamas

Israel is using the the Gaza Strip as a testing ground for a possible military strike on its arch foe Iran, the head of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas said on Monday.

“Israel is warming up the region for a possible war against Iran,” Khaled Meshaal said in an interview with Turkey’s Anatolia news agency.

Accusing Israel of pursuing “state terrorism” in Gaza, Meshaal defended the Islamist group’s firing of rockets into southern Israel from the impoverished coastal strip which is run by Hamas.

“The only purpose of these rockets is to defend ourselves. Israel is attacking us and naturally our brothers in Gaza are exercising their right to self-defence,” said Meshaal, who is the head of the powerful Hamas politburo.

Militants in Gaza reached a truce with Israel last week after four days of violence in which 25 Gazans died and 200 rockets were fired at the Jewish state.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently warned that he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, saying the country had a “duty to defend” itself from any existential threat.

During an unannounced visit to Turkey, Meshaal met on Friday with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Although Turkey was once seen as Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world, relations have chilled under Erdogan who has been particularly outspoken in his criticism of Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and many Western countries, but not by Turkey.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, received an enthusiastic welcome on a visit to Turkey in January as part of his first regional tour.

AFP

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March 18th, 2012 by Oman Views

Netanyahu Makes the Case for Going It Alone Against Iran

By his own account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to Washington this month with two goals. One was to continue his 15-year campaign to push Iran’s nuclear program to the top of the world’s agenda.

That mission was accomplished, Netanyahu declared to the Knesset on Wednesday. The other aim was to hear Washington acknowledge that Israel has the right to launch a military operation on its own against Iran if it sees fit.

“This position was positively received in the United States, I would even say in the most profound way,” he said.

With that, the Israeli Premier launched an extended argument for defying American requests for restraint and going ahead with a strike on Iran.

He cited as precedent the bold calls of three of his predecessors: David Ben-Gurion’s decision to announce independence in 1948 despite the U.S. Secretary of State’s advice to wait; Levi Eshkol’s decision to launch the 1967 Six-Day War despite President Lyndon Johnson’s warning; and Menachem Begin’s 1981 decision to strike Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor at Osirak (though Ronald Reagan appeared mostly amused when he heard about that strike, famously remarking, “Boys will be boys!”).

“I presented the example I just gave you to my hosts in Washington,” Netanyahu reported, “and I believe that the first goal I set – to strengthen the recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself – I think that goal was achieved.”

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By KARL VICK | Time.com

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March 18th, 2012 by Oman Views

Israel, settlers agree to disband oldest illegal outpost

The Israeli government struck a deal Sunday to disband the biggest and oldest settler outpost in the West Bank and relocate its residents to a nearby hill, public radio said.

The agreement to relocate settlers from the Migron illegal outpost was negotiated by Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio in the government, the radio said.

Migron settlers will be moved to a hill two kilometres (1.2 miles) away where new homes will be built for them and the current site will be turned over to the Israeli military administration, it said.

Isral’s Supreme Court had ordered the Migron outpost to be evacuated by the end of March.

Migron, located north of Jerusalem, is built on privately owned Palestinian land.

Israel considers settlement outposts built without government approval to be illegal and often sends security personnel to demolish them, although in recent months the government has announced its intention to retroactively legalise a number of them.

More than 310,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and the number is constantly growing.

Another 200,000 live in a dozen settlement neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

The international community considers all settlements in territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war are illegal, whether or not approved by its government.

AFP

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